@@Pumped-p3e I think all Aturia softsynths sound bland tbh. Really makes Arturia's staple poor cpu optimization make less sense. I assume it all comes from their fantastic UI.
Surge was my first software synth and has been my go to ever since I got a Linnstrument. Roger himself recommended it and I've done most of my work with it. It's got an incredible preset library, small relative to other big names but they are fantastic. It's also great when my M1 is giving me license headaches, I know Surge will always be there for me when everything else quits.
I love Surge XT, and I love it more with Cameron's Venus Theory Dark skin :D We are so spoiled with awesome free stuff in this day and age Thanks for sharing!
Hi Chris. I share the love you have to this synth with you. Except the UI that is not very user friendly, this synth is amazing. Note that the development community behind this project need supports and accept donations. I think there is all the infos on their website. They really deserve to be supported as they deliver that amazing synth for free ^^
No, we do not accept donations! Everything Surge Synth Team does is for free and nobody needs or is required to donate at all. Just use these things! (We don't mind if somebody wants to join the project and help us out with work, though :)
Surge is great, and so is Vital. Besides the (CPU eating) animations which are very nice, I feel Vital sounds a bit fresher overall and arguably the modulation matrix is a lot more transparent. But both work really well and one could probably do without any other synths.
I myself...have had Surge XT in cold storage for quite some time(honestly...the first time I downloaded it, I was really put off by the GUI.) I love that it has skins & that helps...but the controls aren't very streamlined & efficient & the overall vision of it, really needs a facelift. I just started scoping it out a bit tonight and thus far, it doesn't seem to have the same pristine sonic quality of Vital( but then...I really need to spend some quality time with Surge XT & really dive deep into it.)
To offer some constructive criticism - you might want to edit the audio so it isnt too loud on the recording. My ears were dying trying to watch this with earbuds in.
I gotta say, I downloaded Surge XT and played with the presets several months ago, but found the interface too confusing to do much creative stuff on it. You just opened up a whole new understanding of this synth for me. thanks!
Feel free to right-click any control, and when you see a menu entry that has a big question mark in it, click it. Opens the online manual right up at the relevant place to explain the control.
It’s one a vanishingly few synths that can do Sawtooth PWM, which sounds amazing. For free, it’s worth getting it just for the wild textures PWM saws make.
Not to mention the hard syncing and sub-Oscs. Oh and Twist… I'm not touching that one. Most people here would just want presets prepared for them, whereas the rest of us would tweak the knobs till our eyes are red and dry like scortched concrete. It's kinda hard to appreciate a preset if You Did Not Make it yourself.
Surge XT is the best free synth out there and I feel it competes with popular paid ones. I also never seen a synth that has so much attention to performance. So many synth these days just ignore it's cpu usage problems. UVI Falcon is the biggest synth I have and it barely scratches my Cpu while still sounding great. Synapse synths are great at quality and performance as well.
The sound is jubilant, and the spectrum of this synth's capabilities is as deep as an A minor on a double bass. Thanks for the tutorial and your enthusiasm. 1 big like and a sub! 😉
This was great! Thank you. I've been slowly putting together my music system and workflow. Installed Surge XT about a month ago and peep in to see it every few days just to let it know that I still care. After this video, I'll be giving it the love it deserves instead of showering it all on Falcon 2, Vital, Novum, PhasePlant, Cardinal, Opus, the NI gang, and most recently SkyDust. Surge XT has its own unique capabilities and presentation. Definitely among the best. And well-deserving of time and focus for all it can bring to the table in return. Thanks again for giving me the friendly slap that I needed.
What's so awesome about there being so many synths out there is that everyone has a different approach and relationship to the music making process and nowadays you can find the perfect synth(s) that fit your way of working. 😊
Btw, the center section on the fx section I'm pretty sure is a send section. The ones on the right are the ones applying to the entire system! Also I would suggest messing around with Airwindows galactic, it's probably my favorite spatial reverb after supermassive and cloudseed!
@@EvilDragon666 Left slots are inserts (four per scene). First half of the inserts (and sends 1+2) apply to Scene A. The other half (also including sends 3+4) apply to Scene B. Global effects apply to both scenes (A and B) at the same time. The Bypass control allows you to choose which set(s) of effects you want to hear.
I'm a Surge fan for a long time. Before Vital, this was the best free synth out there. XT got even better - and yes, the skin you use in your video is also my favorite one. All the visuals aside, Surge XT just sounds amazing, period. Thanks for another great video 🚀
Surge has been my got to synth for about a year now. I love it especially for the filters and for the way the synth programmers have included modeled saturation in so many parts of the synth.With proper gainstaging this synth can scream, or be super subtle and aetherial .It is especially my go to synth for weird modular type drones and sonic mangling , and for screaming saturated pads/bass/leads etc. The MS20 clone HPF and LPF, with the multiple saturation curves are top notch and I can get near perfect gnarly MS20 like sounds, complete with the howling instability and the saturation which is almost at the point of breakup. And add to this, that I can use any number of over a dozen Oscillator types, including the entire Plaits oscillator module, turning this already super flexible VST into a passable Microfreak clone as well. Add the gazillions of super flexible top notch effects processors and the ridiculous amounts of modulation sources and destinations, and this thing is unstoppable. That it runs fine on my 15 yr old laptop computer with 8 gigs of RAM only sweetens the pot.
Surge XT with bitwig grid system and parallel voice stacking modulators is one of the best combination on the market. No need any other synths and effects. Complete system for any kind of music.
Chris, I am always watching your videos through TV, but the latest video you changed the screen where your face is displayed, then since the space on the face is larger, the space of the video Tutorial is greatly reduced. I prefer the previous screen where his face looks smaller. It is only a recommendation. 😢
I struggled a bit with this, too. It was worst in the effects segment because some of the stuff Chris was doing wasn't even visible. I think the "floating head" works better
I have surge and then surgext for quite some time, not played with it yet, even installed their vcv rack modules. If they will make their sampler as good as surge it will be dope (still alpha release)
Hi Chris! at seeing your (like ever) good video about this cool synth i saw, that my installed version needed to be updated ;-) Done! For all german guys, they have a really "ausführliches Handbuch auf deutsch" (very detailed manual in German) Thanks for that video👍👋
Sadly the German manual is not updated to the latest state to match XT 1.2.0 release. We gracefully welcome any help from German-speaking people in fixing this :)
Thanks for this realistic enthusiasm! I think it is a good way to first try to get closer to the principles of this lovely monster (using the excellent documentation) and then analyse some or lots of the twothousand presets in deep. I did it this way. As an old beginner i am very satisfied with the three free gifts Surge, Vital, Dexed.
if you want an analog synth that sounds like this, but a little more raw and thickk, the Waldorf M has pretty similar timbres. way more fun to use as well
For me it's OB-Xd filter most of the time. It's zero delay feedback, circuit modelled. Great sound but also will require CPU. The comb filter is also great IMO, and you can't get the wackiness of Cutoff/Resonance Warp anywhere else. :P
I’m a bit curious about what you find lacking in the filters? For me, the filters are an important reason for using it. I really enjoy how some of the break up when using more saturated settings, for example.
I got Surge XT a week ago, and it's taking some time for it to "click" with me. I'm not sure what it is, but the sound quality isn't quite grabbing me yet. I'm going to persevere, on the basis that I'm probably not using it right at the moment :) It's certainly very powerful with plenty of amazing features.
Well... a big part of Surge's DSP code still retains original code Claes wrote back in 2005, so that's what you get. It's also one of the main reasons Surge is extremely CPU efficient. Of course, as time progressed we have added some newer algorithms, and these do require more CPU (Modern oscillator, Twist oscillator, Vintage Ladder, OB-Xd filters, certain effects like Ensemble, Tape, Spring Reverb will all need more CPU than most other things in Surge).
Thanks a lot for featuring Surge XT! Lots of good stuff to come in the future, stay tuned....
One of my favorite synths of all time. Lookin forward to the future
How about sound quality like diva or pigments now that would be amazing
@@akira20ish Pigments sounds like a casio toy synth compared to surge.
@@Pumped-p3e nah it sounds way beefier
@@Pumped-p3e I think all Aturia softsynths sound bland tbh. Really makes Arturia's staple poor cpu optimization make less sense. I assume it all comes from their fantastic UI.
I'm so glad they've revived it. I love its quirky character.
Ive been using this synth for quite some time through both iterations of the synth and it is brilliant the sound is amazing and easy to use.
Surge was my first software synth and has been my go to ever since I got a Linnstrument. Roger himself recommended it and I've done most of my work with it. It's got an incredible preset library, small relative to other big names but they are fantastic. It's also great when my M1 is giving me license headaches, I know Surge will always be there for me when everything else quits.
Almost 3000 patches is small, hehe :)
@@EvilDragon666 Well, I admit that I haven't used it so much that I know where everything is... yet 😉
@@EvilDragon666 Yeah that's right; give or take.
Surge XT seems great, and at a price i can afford! Thanks for sharing this, Chris!
I love Surge XT, and I love it more with Cameron's Venus Theory Dark skin :D We are so spoiled with awesome free stuff in this day and age
Thanks for sharing!
Lol to the 'howdy doody buckaroonie' crew.
You can do ANYTHING with that beast
Love the enthusiasm. Great sounding deep FREE synth! YES!!!!! ps... Roger Linn endorsed as well for the MPE Linnstrument. :)
surge XT is super amizing for ultra wide pad just lisent is wider then vital and serum damn this synth is 🔥big 👍
Hi Chris.
I share the love you have to this synth with you.
Except the UI that is not very user friendly, this synth is amazing. Note that the development community behind this project need supports and accept donations. I think there is all the infos on their website. They really deserve to be supported as they deliver that amazing synth for free ^^
No, we do not accept donations! Everything Surge Synth Team does is for free and nobody needs or is required to donate at all. Just use these things! (We don't mind if somebody wants to join the project and help us out with work, though :)
@@EvilDragon666 My bad ^^
@@EvilDragon666 Even from the nightlies I've seen, it's definitely a labor of love.
Surge xt is great synth. In addition, it is very very cpu friendly!
Thank you for your review!
Surge is great, and so is Vital. Besides the (CPU eating) animations which are very nice, I feel Vital sounds a bit fresher overall and arguably the modulation matrix is a lot more transparent. But both work really well and one could probably do without any other synths.
It's such a pleasure to watch your videos.
Thank you!
Between Surge and Vital, one can start with producing music right away.
I myself...have had Surge XT in cold storage for quite some time(honestly...the first time I downloaded it, I was really put off by the GUI.) I love that it has skins & that helps...but the controls aren't very streamlined & efficient & the overall vision of it, really needs a facelift. I just started scoping it out a bit tonight and thus far, it doesn't seem to have the same pristine sonic quality of Vital( but then...I really need to spend some quality time with Surge XT & really dive deep into it.)
Surge xt is actually very simple it just cramp as hell
Surge is a microtonality monster...
To offer some constructive criticism - you might want to edit the audio so it isnt too loud on the recording. My ears were dying trying to watch this with earbuds in.
Interesting dynamics.... I thought Vital was good....
The VCV Surge modules are also incredible.
They are sO killer.
I gotta say, I downloaded Surge XT and played with the presets several months ago, but found the interface too confusing to do much creative stuff on it. You just opened up a whole new understanding of this synth for me. thanks!
Feel free to right-click any control, and when you see a menu entry that has a big question mark in it, click it. Opens the online manual right up at the relevant place to explain the control.
That's awesome! Yeah I'm really surprised how good it actually is. Going to get a lot of use moving forward!
Same for me ! I had it a long time, strugled with the interface, but yeah once you get to know this beast, it is a true gem !!
@@EvilDragon666good to know, thank you.
Be warned:
Garron's Surge XT - The Movie is an absolute jam to watch.
It is a really great free synth .. much better than most paid ones! 🙂
It’s one a vanishingly few synths that can do Sawtooth PWM, which sounds amazing. For free, it’s worth getting it just for the wild textures PWM saws make.
Not to mention the hard syncing and sub-Oscs.
Oh and Twist…
I'm not touching that one.
Most people here would just want presets prepared for them,
whereas the rest of us would tweak the knobs till our eyes are red and dry like scortched concrete.
It's kinda hard to appreciate a preset if You Did Not Make it yourself.
Surge XT is the best free synth out there and I feel it competes with popular paid ones. I also never seen a synth that has so much attention to performance. So many synth these days just ignore it's cpu usage problems.
UVI Falcon is the biggest synth I have and it barely scratches my Cpu while still sounding great. Synapse synths are great at quality and performance as well.
Your compressor is compressing nothing at all because you put it in a send FX slot without turning up the send effects mix for either of the scenes.
The sound is jubilant, and the spectrum of this synth's capabilities is as deep as an A minor on a double bass.
Thanks for the tutorial and your enthusiasm.
1 big like and a sub! 😉
After tossing the bass down a deep well.
This is more advance than Vital or any other free synth.
I like this thing better than any of the stock Logic synths 😂
This was great! Thank you. I've been slowly putting together my music system and workflow. Installed Surge XT about a month ago and peep in to see it every few days just to let it know that I still care. After this video, I'll be giving it the love it deserves instead of showering it all on Falcon 2, Vital, Novum, PhasePlant, Cardinal, Opus, the NI gang, and most recently SkyDust. Surge XT has its own unique capabilities and presentation. Definitely among the best. And well-deserving of time and focus for all it can bring to the table in return. Thanks again for giving me the friendly slap that I needed.
What's so awesome about there being so many synths out there is that everyone has a different approach and relationship to the music making process and nowadays you can find the perfect synth(s) that fit your way of working. 😊
S1gns of a great synth! Thanks Chris for the exploration. You help to make new synth discovery a pleasant experience. Much success to you 🤓
Thank you so much!
Btw, the center section on the fx section I'm pretty sure is a send section. The ones on the right are the ones applying to the entire system! Also I would suggest messing around with Airwindows galactic, it's probably my favorite spatial reverb after supermassive and cloudseed!
Correct, middle 4 slots are send FX!
@@EvilDragon666
Left slots are inserts (four per scene).
First half of the inserts (and sends 1+2) apply to Scene A.
The other half (also including sends 3+4) apply to Scene B.
Global effects apply to both scenes (A and B) at the same time.
The Bypass control allows you to choose which set(s) of effects you want to hear.
After applying the reverb and delay, I flew away, cool sounds and your charisma is on top!!!))
I'm a Surge fan for a long time. Before Vital, this was the best free synth out there. XT got even better - and yes, the skin you use in your video is also my favorite one. All the visuals aside, Surge XT just sounds amazing, period. Thanks for another great video 🚀
Thank you so much!
Surge has been my got to synth for about a year now. I love it especially for the filters and for the way the synth programmers have included modeled saturation in so many parts of the synth.With proper gainstaging this synth can scream, or be super subtle and aetherial .It is especially my go to synth for weird modular type drones and sonic mangling , and for screaming saturated pads/bass/leads etc.
The MS20 clone HPF and LPF, with the multiple saturation curves are top notch and I can get near perfect gnarly MS20 like sounds, complete with the howling instability and the saturation which is almost at the point of breakup. And add to this, that I can use any number of over a dozen Oscillator types, including the entire Plaits oscillator module, turning this already super flexible VST into a passable Microfreak clone as well. Add the gazillions of super flexible top notch effects processors and the ridiculous amounts of modulation sources and destinations, and this thing is unstoppable.
That it runs fine on my 15 yr old laptop computer with 8 gigs of RAM only sweetens the pot.
it's so good on CPU you're right. i've had a project with like 15 Surge's open and CPU was very low still
Surge is very good, so is vital, but insane? hmm, well for a free synth i guess.
phaseplant and bitwig, those are actual insane.
Thanks for the tutorial! Great synth.
Thanks for the explanation! A rather complicated synth, I've been using it for 2 years from time to time
Surge XT with bitwig grid system and parallel voice stacking modulators is one of the best combination on the market. No need any other synths and effects. Complete system for any kind of music.
Thanks for this, Chris, and I love your new intro sequence!
Chris, I am always watching your videos through TV, but the latest video you changed the screen where your face is displayed, then since the space on the face is larger, the space of the video Tutorial is greatly reduced. I prefer the previous screen where his face looks smaller. It is only a recommendation. 😢
I struggled a bit with this, too. It was worst in the effects segment because some of the stuff Chris was doing wasn't even visible. I think the "floating head" works better
cool, i needed a surgext vid!
We All Do!
man all that junk in the video description and you can't even put a link to the thing you're reviewing??
I have surge and then surgext for quite some time, not played with it yet, even installed their vcv rack modules. If they will make their sampler as good as surge it will be dope (still alpha release)
Yup, we do intend on making Shortcircuit as awesome as Surge is. Will take some time...
@@EvilDragon666 oh love to hear that
@@EvilDragon666 Surge is such a magnificent synth! 🎹🎛️🎚️
ShortCircuitXT's definitely still alpha at this point.
Hi Chris! at seeing your (like ever) good video about this cool synth i saw, that my installed version needed to be updated ;-) Done!
For all german guys, they have a really "ausführliches Handbuch auf deutsch" (very detailed manual in German)
Thanks for that video👍👋
Sadly the German manual is not updated to the latest state to match XT 1.2.0 release. We gracefully welcome any help from German-speaking people in fixing this :)
Pretty cool
Thanks for this realistic enthusiasm! I think it is a good way to first try to get closer to the principles of this lovely monster (using the excellent documentation) and then analyse some or lots of the twothousand presets in deep. I did it this way. As an old beginner i am very satisfied with the three free gifts Surge, Vital, Dexed.
Not to mention close to 3000 parameters
(no that's not a typo).
Great synth it has a new update as of last week 1.2.0 thanks again Chris!!
Love your enthusiasm !!!!!!!!!! Great review 🎆
Nothings as fat as Repro 5
Repro 1 isn’t bad either
@@leondevries478 pretty nice too!
sweet
if you want an analog synth that sounds like this, but a little more raw and thickk, the Waldorf M has pretty similar timbres. way more fun to use as well
Check my channel, I have the M!
Repro 5 is an analog monster
I love the edit of the two videos faded together for this format. How did you edit that?
They were recorded simultaneously in OBS! Use the "alpha mask" filter and you're good to go.
I'm just left a little bit wanting when it comes to the filters.
For me it's OB-Xd filter most of the time. It's zero delay feedback, circuit modelled. Great sound but also will require CPU. The comb filter is also great IMO, and you can't get the wackiness of Cutoff/Resonance Warp anywhere else. :P
I’m a bit curious about what you find lacking in the filters? For me, the filters are an important reason for using it. I really enjoy how some of the break up when using more saturated settings, for example.
First ❤
Those who say first get stung by a thousand bees 🐝🐝🐝🐝 grahhhhh
@@raptorboss6688 are you okay
@@baczorek sorry was having a bit of a moment there
I still use the old version, should really download the new one
I got Surge XT a week ago, and it's taking some time for it to "click" with me. I'm not sure what it is, but the sound quality isn't quite grabbing me yet. I'm going to persevere, on the basis that I'm probably not using it right at the moment :) It's certainly very powerful with plenty of amazing features.
Well... a big part of Surge's DSP code still retains original code Claes wrote back in 2005, so that's what you get. It's also one of the main reasons Surge is extremely CPU efficient. Of course, as time progressed we have added some newer algorithms, and these do require more CPU (Modern oscillator, Twist oscillator, Vintage Ladder, OB-Xd filters, certain effects like Ensemble, Tape, Spring Reverb will all need more CPU than most other things in Surge).
@@EvilDragon666 Thanks - those are interesting insights. I'll keep experimenting!
It's going to be a heck of a learning curve at first.
Slow and steady; Take it in small bites.